Shady Run
by FontGirl
Summary: Marauders Era event taking place circa Christmas after their last year at Hogwarts. Delves into a bit of Sirius' backstory and some childhood trauma.
1. A Chance Encounter

Disclaimer: All of the HP characters as well asthe HP universeare of course the property of J.K. Rowling. All rights are hers, I am merely a fan who is intrigued by the lives of the infamous Marauders, especially Sirius, and wish to explore more of his backstory. So, without further ado, may I present...

**Shady Run**

_Diagon Alley, c. late December 21, 1978_

Sirius was just finishing up some last minute Christmas shopping at Diagon Alley. So what if the holiday was only like two days away? At least he was getting it done; better late then never was a concept Sirius highly approved of. Why go worrying about things way far in advance when you could just procrastinate at your leisure? Which was why Sirius was among the throngs of fellow procrastinators, standing in long lines, and getting jostled by crowds, while Lily was back at the flat he had offered to share with her after her sister had insisted she find a new home, probably watching the television and eating a pizza.

"She better not have ordered a pizza." Sirius grumbled to himself, pushing his way into the Apothecary. Though he had brought on this situation himself, he was fine with that…until he began to think that other people might be having a better time than he was. "Well, OK, I guess I wouldn't be too bitter if she ordered a pizza, as long as she saves me half. At least half. Then it would be acceptable."

Sirius shifted his packages to one hand in order to raise his open mug of coffee closer to his lips. The mug was unusually heavy for a beverage and did not seem to be exhibiting amounts of steam like most fresh coffee, but that was merely because Sirius had developed a fondness for mixing syrup into the beverage. It made the normally bitter drink taste nice and thick, in Sirius' opinion, and gave it a good texture. Sirius nodded to the witch at the checkout counter, a pretty little blond by the name of Selene, if he recalled correctly (as it had been some time since they had dated), as he maneuvered down the aisles.

Sirius was just taking down a package of lovage, trying to remember if that was one of the potions ingredients Lily had asked Sirius to restock a few days ago, when a black clad figure came sweeping down the aisle, looking down at an open jar clutched in his hands, instead of looking where he was going. The man consequently smashed into Sirius, causing him to drop the package of lovage to the floor.

"Hey!" Sirius snapped, grabbing the person by the shoulder. "Aren't you gonna apologize?"

"Why would I apologize to you, Black?" Snarled an all-too-familiar voice.

"Snape?" Sirius asked, going from shocked to instantly on his guard in less than a second. "What, you're too good to keep your eyes on where you're going? Greasy hair obscuring your vision?"

Snape shoved back the hood of his robe and leaned in close to Sirius. "We're not at school any longer, Black. There's no Dumbledore to cry to when a confrontation arises. I would encourage you to apply more caution in picking your battles. You never know who you'll be up against."

Sirius snorted and took a step forward, his much more imposing physical form causing Snape to back up a pace. "I _never_ "cried" to Dumbledore as you so insinuate. I simply waited for my chance to retaliate threefold. Secondly, _Snivellus_, that sounded an awful lot like a threat. Maybe you should reconsider who you're up against before you try and dabble in the big leagues with grown ups."

Snape curled his lip in distaste. "You, a "grown up"? Sirius Black, teenage runaway, perpetually caught up in angst because he had mommy issues, is standing here, claiming to be mature?"

"Shut up. You don't know anything about it."

"Aw, poor, poor Sirius Black! Let's all through him a pity party." Snape laughed in his face.

Sirius slammed his mug down on the nearby shelf and whipped out his wand, eyes flashing. "Fine! Let's do this Snape."

Snape laughed at him again. "See, this is exactly what I mean, Black. Temper, temper. You're always taking the childish approach. Never in control of yourself…so uncivilized." Snape smirked at him while Sirius fumed, still holding his and aloft. "I find it most barbaric to engage in such displays in public. In a crowded store before Christmas no less. Do you not have any shame, Black? While it was so very nice to have this little chat, I think I'd rather just purchase my powdered alihotsy, and be on my way." Snape held up the open container filled with a fine blue powder, which he had been carrying. He shoved past the visibly stunned yet seething Sirius and made his way up the aisle. In order to lay the taunt on even thicker, he tossed back over his shoulder, "Remember, Black, patience is a virtue."

Sirius glared at his retreating form, his mood worsening, all trace of holiday cheer evaporating. "Slimly git." He muttered.

Sirius retrieved his mug and took a nice, big gulp of coffee; caffeine and sugar always made him feel better. With a sigh, Sirius picked up the package of lovage from where it had fallen to the floor, and continued his shopping. He cursed to himself when he realized that a steady pounding was forming in his head; the beginnings of what was sure to be a splitting headache.

_So much for having the "Christmas spirit."_ Sirius thought to himself miserably.


	2. Missing Person

_Sirius' Flat, c. late December 22, 1978_

Lily unlocked the door and entered the flat, dropping her coat over the back of the nearest chair.

"Sirius!" Lily called out. "You'll never guess what I found!" There were no lights on in the house, so she began to turn on any lamps she passed.

Lily made her way to the kitchen, dropping her keys on the counter.

"Sirius!" She tried again. "You here?"

Lily jogged to his room; he wasn't there.

"Sirius?" A tone of worry had crept into her voice. Sirius hadn't mentioned anything about going out. _Maybe he left a note_, she thought to herself, and returned to the living room, looked around for one. She didn't find any note.

"OK, Sirius, this isn't funny! Where are you?"

Lily went to his bathroom next; still no sign of Sirius. By now she was running. Lily checked her room and her bathroom, but to no avail. She darted back to the kitchen and her face crinkled into a frown. On the floor of the kitchen, gleaming against the tile was a spoon flecked with what appeared to be frosting. A copy of the _Daily Prophet_, the pages out of order, littered the floor.

Lily turned around, slowly, taking in everything in her surroundings that she had taken for granted when breezing into the apartment. She took a step back towards the living room and heard a crunch under her feet. That was when she noticed the shards of glass and china, remnants of a mug and a small plate interspersed with chunks of what appeared to be cake with that same white frosting, on the floor by the entryway to the kitchen; she had just stepped right over them at first. That same cake frosting was splattered on the lower kitchen cabinets.

The feeling that something was very, very wrong here, hit Lily fast and hard, she put her hand on the counter to brace herself against a strong instinct to vomit, and touched something thick, wet…and cool. Lily shrieked out of sheer surprise, and realized that the entire countertop was covered in a thick, brown liquid. She had dropped her keys right into the liquid and hadn't even noticed. Lily almost sighed with relief at the color of the fluid, she had thought the liquid was blood at first. She sniffed her now wet hand, and discovered that the mystery liquid was…coffee? Sirius always did add odd things to his coffee, like syrup, because he liked his coffee to taste 'thick'.

"What happened here?" Lily wondered aloud. "It's like he was about to eat a snack and then…what? Shoved it onto the floor? But that's not like him! Sirius hates to waste food. SIRIUS! WHERE ARE YOU?"

A small noise, like a strangled gasp, made Lily jump at least a foot in the air. She whirled around…and finally saw Sirius. Sirius was curled up in the darkest corner of the living room, practically hidden by the couch. He had his knees drawn up to his chin and his long, black hair had fallen into his face, completely obscuring it, only a glimpse of the tip of his nose was visible. Lily raced over to him, sliding down on her knees in front of him. Up close, she could see that he was shaking severely, almost as if he was having a seizure.

"SIRIUS!"


	3. Altered Perceptions

Sirius was completely confused; he didn't know what was going on. His memory had gotten really weird; everything was all hazy and hopelessly jumbled up. The night before had been his infuriating encounter with Snape, and he was so out of sorts upon returning home that he had gone right to bed. Lily had tried to bribe him to come hang out with her and watch some muggle movie, but not even pizza was enough to restore Sirius' spirits. After mumbling about bad days andhaving a headache, Lily had handed him a cup of water andsome aspirin and let him go and rest in peace, a gesture Sirius had been thankful for.

This morning, he remembered had begun by Lily had woken up earlier than him, again, as usual. She had leaned over him when he was still in bed, gently shaken him awake, her long hair just barely brushing his face. She had told him that she was going to work and then would run some errands but she would be back before dinnertime, and that they had more than enough to order pizza that night. She had asked him if he was planning on going anywhere, and he had grunted a 'no', and told her that James had owled to let them know that couldn't come that afternoon but would later that night. So Lily had smiled and left in a good mood, humming a song to herself, and he had gone back to sleep.

He had woken up sometime later; the sun was just setting when he had gotten out of the shower. Hungry, he had padded into the kitchen, removed a generous chunk of the white frosted chocolate cake James' mother had made for them, from the fridge and put it on a plate. He had then proceeded to make a cup of coffee, and while it was brewing, he had brought the _Daily Prophet _in from the hall and begun to read the latest story about Voldemort, when his coffee had finished. He had poured the coffee into a mug then added his favorite ingredient to it—maple syrup—and brought it over to join the cake and newspaper on the countertop. And that was when everything went wrong.

Standing back out in the living room, leaning on the counter, he had just taken a bite of cake when the mother of all headaches hit him. An intense pain flared up in base of his neck and traveled upwards, until it felt like someone was splitting his skull open with a sledgehammer. He remembered crying out in pain, grasping at his hair, rubbing his temples, pressing his palms into the sides of his head, even hitting himself to try to stop the pain or at least divert his attention away from it. There was a bright flash of blue light…the pain intensified until he couldn't see…he threw out his hands, clearing the countertop of his meal…he heard the sound of glass shattering…thick, syrupy coffee burned his hands…and that was when his memory of that morning and the flat stopped, and he was…_here_.


	4. The Marauder Who Knew No Fear

Sirius found himself in a long hallway of sorts, barefoot, dressed in thin white robes. All of the walls were a pale blue color and there were no doors or windows. The floor was covered in a well-worn carpet, in that same pale blue color. It was freezing cold in the empty hallway, and Sirius was just sitting in the middle of the floor, all alone. He began to shiver.

All of a sudden, he heard pounding footsteps, and he felt his spirits lift a bit. _Maybe whoever was coming could help me! _He thought to himself. _Maybe I can just ask them calmly where the hell I am, how the hell I got here, and what the bleeding hell is going on here!_ However, when Sirius saw whom the footsteps belonged to, he stiffened in fear.

Several people in long, flowing white coats and robes were heading his way. They all carried clipboards in one hand and held bulging black leather bags in the other hands. Three were women, all with their hair pulled back into severe buns, and two of them wore black-framed glasses. The other five were men, huge men with more muscles than James. When they saw Sirius they seemed to pause out of sheer surprise, then barreled towards him. Sirius was so scared he couldn't move. Yes, Sirius Black, Padfoot, The Marauder Who Knew No Fear, was afraid of doctors, well mediwizards, really. Now, regular healers and nurses, like Madam Pomfrey, didn't bother him at all, but for some reason—a memory he had probably suppressed—he got a horrible feeling when around a _doctor_, even when he saw ones on those muggle hospital shows that Lily sometimes liked to watch. Up until then, it had only been a weird, queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had interpreted as fear, and when he had mentioned it to Prongs once, Prongs had brushed it off as just some irrational fear, and Prongs was still the only person who knew about his _feeling_ about them. However, he had never been _this_ scared of one before.

"Patient X-8-6-A-A-4-2 in special projects and operations division!" One of the women, the only blonde female in the group, shouted, as she looked up above her head, towards the ceiling, talking to what must have undoubtedly been a security camera. "Unsure of whether X-8 is armed, but certainly deranged and dangerous. Suggest treatment as a hostile, immediate sedation, and removal to the High-Security Ward."

Sirius realized with a jolt that the woman was talking about him!

One of the men grabbed Sirius roughly by the front of his robe, and hauled him to his feet. Two other men came forward, each grabbing him by one of his arms. The blonde woman removed a long, thin needle from her black bag. Sirius was powerless to resist as she injected the needle's contents into his arm. Sirius felt his eyelids droop….


	5. Life on the Hi Sec Ward

The next thing Sirius knew, he was being dragged down another extremely long corridor. In this corridor, the walls were all completely whitewashed. There were many doors, all big and thick and seemed to be made of solid steel and with metal handles. In the middle of the doors there were small, thin slats, and near the top of the doors there were windows made of shatter-proof glass, and crisscrossed with thick metal bars. Sirius was dragged next up a flight of stairs to a much larger, wider, corridor, this one filled with guards in uniform, wands in their hands, and guns strapped across their backs, but still with basically the same setup, with only a few other differences besides the guards.

Right by the staircase he had been dragged up, there was a set of double doors, also made of several inches of steel, also with barred windows, but without these were much larger and did not have slats in the middle. In the middle of the left side of the corridor was a bank of elevators. Down at the other end of the corridor was a large, more open area, with a long countertop. Here, more doctors were stationed. Also, at the other end of the corridor, were several doors that were a bit larger than the rest, but these had many small locks going up their sides as well as humongous padlocks on the handles. However, the biggest contrast between this corridor and the others Sirius had visited was the screaming. Bloodcurdling screams of rage, pain, and sorrow, issued from the closed doors. Sirius wanted to cover his ears but whatever they had injected him with had not worn off completely yet; he still could not move.

The two men dragging him stopped a little more than halfway down the corridor, just past the elevators. Sirius noticed that only other person who remained from his original eight captors, besides the two men dragging him, was the blonde woman. She stepped in front of him now, removing her wand and tapping the door four times, once in each corner, then whispering something…numbers, Sirius believed, the numbers 7-4-7-4-8-7. The door seemed to shimmer for a minute, emitting a quick green glow. When the glow subsided, the blonde woman pulled on the handle of the door, opening it. As soon as she opened it, the two men hurled him into the room beyond the door. Seconds later, the door shimmered again and emitted a quick red glow. Even with the screaming, Sirius could hear their footfalls getting farther and farther away as they left, due to his increased sense of hearing, thanks mostly to his Animagi transformation in fifth year.

Suddenly, Sirius felt a tingling sensation spread through his body, and he realized it was the drug they had injected him with wearing off. "Finally!" Sirius muttered, getting to his feet and looking around at the room he'd been placed in.

Like the rest of the corridor, the walls of the room were whitewashed. The floor was hard, white tile, and there were no windows. The room was fairly small and spartanly furnished. There was a bed with stainless steel posts, crisp white sheets, and one pillow. On the other side of the room there was a stainless steel table piled with several thin white robes, similar to the one Sirius was currently wearing; Sirius supposed these were the uniforms for whatever weird hospital he was stuck in. In the middle of the room there was a circular white rug. That was it.

Sirius padded over to the door in unshod feet—his captors must have stolen his shoes—and glanced out of it, glad he was tall enough to do so. As soon as he got a glimpse of the corridor, a guard walked by, stopped in front of Sirius' door and held the barrel of a gun against the glass until Sirius backed away. Sirius felt around in the robes for his wand, but couldn't find it. He cursed. They must have taken that away too. Having nothing else to do, Sirius curled up on the rug and went to sleep, for some reason not wanting to use the bed.

* * *

Sirius was awoken some time later to a loud pounding on the steel door to his cell. Sirius sat bolt upright as one of the men who had dragged him there barged in. He glanced at the bed and, not seeing Sirius, looked puzzled, until he saw that Sirius was sitting on the carpet. The man frowned.

"Why weren't you sleeping in your bed?"

Sirius shrugged. "I didn't want to."

"You'll sleep in your bed next time."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then you'll have to answer to me." The large man flashed him and evil grin, before reaching down and yanking Sirius to his feet. He pulled Sirius out of the cell, letting the thick door slam shut only centimeters from Sirius' fingers. "Recreation time, now. Then dinner. You eat what you're given and don't complain or else—"

"I answer to you?" Sirius drawled.

"Good, you're learning. After dinner is bedtime, you go to bed when you're told or else—"

"I answer to you, again?"

"Right, again. Mornings, you wake up, change your robe, have breakfast, have session—"

"Session?" Sirius echoed.

"You've been here before, X-8! Wow, you really must be a mad one. Session. Therapy—with group and singularly—coupled with mediwizard interviews, warden checks, medical exams…the drill. Then it's lunch, more session, quiet time, recreation, dinner, and the cycle starts again. That's life on the Hi-Sec Ward."

"Hi-Sec? High-security?"

"Yup." The man led him to the double doors, pushed them open, then shoved Sirius inside. "Any trouble, you get put in the Time-Out Room. Solitary confinement."

"Ooo, that sounds scary." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm gonna love seein' your face when they lock you in there. You'll be eatin' those words, boy." The man laughed as he slammed the door shut.

Sirius looked around and his jaw dropped. Suddenly, he knew where he was, and he felt like he wanted to vomit. The fear slowly crept over him, cold as ice, seeping into blood and bone, chilling him to his core. For the second time that day, he felt paralyzed by fear. He knew where he was and he knew he had been there before. It was his worst nightmare, the place he feared more than anything else. He would take a fight against a dark wizard without even having his wand over being back here. This place symbolized everything he hated about himself, that little nagging memory in the back of his mind that never went away. He had always thought he could repress that memory forever, that memory of this awful place, this place that he had sworn he would never return to, this place that not even Prongs knew he had been to. It was the worst memory of his childhood.

_How did I get back here? I didn't do anything!_ Sirius thought desperately to himself. _Who would do this? What's going on?_ All of these thoughts and more raced through his head and he hated it, because now he didn't know what was real and what wasn't. And it was all because he was here! Sirius gave an involuntary shudder.

He was back here and he didn't know why. All he knew was that this was real and he couldn't leave.

Sirius began to convulse.

He was at _The Shady Run Asylum for the Criminally Insane._ It was notorious for housing the most deranged of wizard-kind.

Again.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

Tears welled in his eyes and he gave in completely to the fear. He now understood why he was afraid of doctors, even muggle ones. It was because of this place.

He was in a mental hospital. He was insane. Criminally insane. _Again._


	6. Desperate Times

"Sirius?" Lily called a bit tentatively. "Sirius, are you OK?" She leaned in a little closer to Sirius. "What's wrong? What are you doing here, in the corner?"

Lily reached out to push his hair out of his face, he flinched, and one large shiver seemed to slowly make its way down his body, before the rapid shaking started anew. Lily had pulled her hand back, startled, when he had flinched, but she reached timidly forward again, this time to put a comforting hand on his quivering shoulder. Sirius made a sound halfway between a yelp and a grunt, and Lily backed off once more, getting to her feet.

"Magus!" She shouted. Hearing his name called, her owl flew into the room, stopping inches from Lily's face, a piece of blank parchment in his beak. Magus held out his leg, obediently, ready and waiting for Lily to attach a letter to it. Lily reached into her pockets but she didn't have a quill or even a pen or a pencil on her. She whipped out her wand. "Accio Pen!" She shouted, thinking it easier to write with an object that didn't need to be dipped in ink first.

However, seeing as she had made the spell so general, not focusing on one certain pen, every pen in the flat, even ones Lily had thought lost, flew at her. Drawers opened to vomit up pens. The pens hurtled at her with surprising speed; she had put too much strength into her spell. Magus cried out and flew up as close to the ceiling as he could go, having taken a pen to the chest. From the corner, Sirius let out a sharp cry as all of the pens that missed hitting Lily either hit him or the walls around him.

"Magus!" Lily called for the owl, coaxing it back down. Reluctantly, the owl returned and held out its leg once more. Lily took the piece of parchment, and leaning it against the wall, hastily scribbled, 'Help! Trouble with Sirius! –Lily'. She tied the parchment to the owl's leg with a bit of conjured string. "Take this to James, no matter what he's doing. I don't care if you need to swoop in the kitchen window and disrupt a family dinner or if you need to pick the bathroom lock and interrupt him while he's in the shower. When you find him, peck him until he reads it and gets here. Don't let him brush you off!" Lily threw open the nearest window. "Go, Magus!" The owl zoomed out the window into the city.

As soon as the owl was gone from her sight, she dropped down to focus on Sirius. She sat down on her knees in front of him, and reached forward, once more, this time, tucking his long black locks back behind his ears, so she could see his face. It was then that she realized he was crying silent tears. His eyes had no trace of their normal spark of life, they were dulled and glassy and unseeing, as he gazed, his eyes unfocused, into space.

"Sirius?" Lily's voice was barely above a whisper. "Sirius, talk to me."

Sirius' shaking began to ebb slightly.

Heartened by was seemed to be a breakthrough, Lily tried talking to him again. "Sirius, can you hear me?" When Sirius gave no response, she said, "Guess not. Well, anyway, er, this is Lily, Lily Evans, in case you didn't know." Lily took a quick rest after reintroducing herself to who was one of her closest friends, to calm herself.

Siri, I don't know what's wrong with you, and I wish you could hear me and tell me what's wrong, but you can't, so I'm just going to prattle on anyway, and my god, was that a major run-on sentence! Siri, possibly some part of you recognizes my voice, and hopefully you might, somehow, understand what I'm saying, so I'm just gonna' talk, OK?"

Sirius' shaking was easing up a bit more, so she took this as a sign to keep talking.

"Siri, I'm kinda scared. OK, I'm very scared. I don't know what's wrong with you and I don't know what to do. So I'm just gonna keep you company. I don't know if you're under some weird spell, but if I was under one, I'd be happier just knowing my friends were there for me y'know? Now, James is coming, I know he is. I sent him an owl and I made sure Magus knew it was urgent. James'll be here as soon as he can, I just hope he doesn't get arrested for illegal, unlicensed Apparation in the process. Hopefully he's smart enough to just put on his invisibility cloak and fly over here on his broomstick. You remember James, don't you? James Potter, a.k.a. Prongs? He's your best friend. You, James, Remus Lupin (a.k.a. 'Moony') and Peter Pettigrew (a.k.a. 'Wormtail'), and I guess me too, kinda, are the Marauders. You remember the nicknames, don't you, Siri? Anyways, James is coming Sirius, I promise you, he is. I just wonder where you are—y'know, the essence of you—what you're seeing, what's happening, and if you're OK there…"


	7. I Am Who I Say I Am

"Newbie." Came the husky snarl from right behind him.

Sirius jumped slightly and whirled around. At the table closest to the doors he had been shoved through by the guard, sat a girl about his age, who was staring at him with piercing green eyes that seemed to see through him. She had long, waist-length, dark red hair which was impossibly matted, and appeared to have not been washed in weeks. The girl had overgrown fingernails with chipped red polish, a stark contrast to her skin so pale it was almost translucent. At the same time that her impenetrable gazed sent a jolt of fear through him, a sense of intrigue also took over him; she seemed familiar, somehow.

"Black." The girl rasped, still staring at him, unblinking.

Sirius' eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Black, Sirius. Patient X-8-6-A-A-4-2. Classification: Hostile, Violent, Deranged Level 1A. Solution: sedation, electroshock, experimental exploitation. Property of Special Proj and Ops Division. Remanded to Hi-Sec Ward, indefinitely. Status: TTNV. Incarceration Code: 7-4-7-4-8-7." The girl suddenly rattled off in a flat tone.

"TTNV?" Sirius repeated.

"Two Timer, Newbie Veteran." The girl clarified. Suddenly she smiled. "Welcome."

Sirius felt chilled. "Um, how did you know all that stuff…about me?"

She held out one finger and gestured for him to come closer. Hesitantly, Sirius took the vacated seat next to her. The girl leaned very close to his face, and whispered to him conspiratorially: "I can hack into anyone's ID bracelet." She said, and pointed to the tiny black bracelet encircling Sirius' left ankle. "They don't know it, but I have that kind of power. Don't tell." She put her finger over her lips. "Shh."

Sirius gaped at her. "And do you know what all that stuff that you read means?"

"Sure. I ain't a DL – 1A, like you."

"A what?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Deranged Level 1A, utmost level, incurably, irredeemably deranged."

"What are you then?"

"All my stats?"

"Why not?"

"Evans, Lily, Patien—"

"Lily Evans?" Sirius exclaimed. A jolt of shock tinged with abject fear spread though his body, making him feel suddenly all too cold.

"Shh!" The girl hissed. "You're gonna get the guards on us both."

"But you can't be Lily Evans."

"Why not?" The girl asked calmly.

"Because I know Lily Evans, and you are not her. We go to Hogwarts together!"

The girl threw back her head and laughed. "Hogwarts! You? Impossible! No wonder you're 1A. Must be a Hal-Del Combo."

"A what?"

"Hallucination-Delusion. You must have both. Damn you're crazy."

"OK, let's just say you're Lily Evans. What's the rest of your…stats or whatever?"

The girl, Lily, laughed. "Yes, let's just say I am who I say I am. Evans, Lily. Patient Y-9-5-Z-Z-1-0. Classification: Hostile, Deranged Level 1Z. Solution: constant sedation, experimental exploitation. Joint Property of Divisions Special Proj and Ops and Criminal Control. Remanded to Hi-Sec Ward, indefinitely. Status: FTJO-PE. Incarceration Code: 5-4-5-9."


	8. Predilection Evil

"Okayyyyyy. And that means?"

"I'm too smart for them."

"But this place is for the insane."

"Yes."

"So how can you be too smart if you're insane?"

"Because I'm classified asan uncontrollable criminal. DL – 1Z is reserved for the people who are not crazy, just evil, which in their opinions is crazy, y'know? I'm a FTJO-PE, a First Timer Juvenile Offender, Predilection Evil. My intelligence is beyond their comprehension and my powers, if allowed to naturally expand, will become beyond their control. They think anyone born with powers measuring beyond a certain amount needs to be committed. That's how I got here."

"How—how long have you been here?"

"Oh, years…like what 6 or 7 years now? I got here right after you left."

Sirius was strangely intrigued—and more than a little creeped out—by this obviously crazy girl who claimed to be Lily Evans. "So you're saying that you're really Lily Evans? Sister Petunia Evans?"

Lily frowned at him, and her eyes darkened. "Unfortunately, yes, that is the name of my…sister. And why don't you believe that I am who I say I am?"

"Because you're crazy." Sirius blurted out.

"Uh-uh, not Deranged, Predilection Evil. And may I point out that you are the one classified 1A here, not me. So now who's crazy?"

"Apparently both of us. So, you're _really_ Lily Evans, huh?"

"Yes." Lily said, dragging the word out, as if Sirius was slow.

"So then you know James Potter?"

"Oh sure." Her eyes lit up and she leaned closer towards Sirius, whispering conspiratorially, "we're dating. Shh, don't tell anyone."

Sirius gaped at her; now he _knew _she was crazy. He laughed at her. "Really, James Potter is here?" He responded sarcastically. "Gee, I _so _did not see that one coming."

She glared at him. "Yeah, that's what I just said, isn't it? He's in solitary though.

"Solitary confinement?"

"What else?"

"Why would he be there?" Sirius asked curiously. The way she spoke, so matter-of-fact, and the way she stared at him with those fathomless, brilliant green, which seemed to look right through him, was beginning to make him very nervous.

"Yep. He started going crazy like 10 minutes before you got here."

"Started going crazy? If he's here, wouldn't he already be crazy?"

Lily sneered at him. "Of course he's already crazy. I meant that he started spazzing...flailing about, screaming about getting a visit from someone, laughing maniacally. The usual. He gets fits sometimes. Last time he attacked one of the other lifers...it took five mediwizards to finally take him out. It was brilliant!" Her bright green eyes lit up at the memory.

Sirius had a vauge notion that he knew who she was taking about. "The other lifer that James—that James attacked…his name wouldn't happen to be…um, Snape, would it?"

Lily clapped her hands, eyes gleaming. "Yes! I knew you'd remember! Severus Snape he is. Been here 'bout as long as us all."

Sirius leaned forward and grabbed her hands, feeling disturbed, as if he might panic and scream any minute now…even though a part of his mind realized that any such impulsive behavior would be highly irrational and out of character. "Tell me!" Sirius commanded.

"Tell you what?" Lily replied, calmly, fixing him with that creepy stare again.

"What are his stats?"

"Whose stats?"

"James'! You know them don't you?" He exclaimed, a fanatical gleam appearing in his eyes.

"Yeah, of course," Lily responded slowly. Appearing to be unnerved by Sirius' sudden intensity she pulled her hands back.

"Then what are they? Tell me, I have to know!"

"Um, OK. Er, they're—"

"C'mon!"

"OK, OK!" She cried out, waving her hands in an effort to calm him down. She exhaled and leaned back in her chair, her eyes going slightly unfocused. "Potter, James. Patient X-4-6-B-A-8-0. Classification: Hostile, Violent, Aggressive, Deranged Level 1B. Solution: sedation, electroshock, behavior reprogramming, experimental exploitation. Property of Special Proj and Ops Division. Remanded to Hi-Sec Ward, indefinitely. Status: FFTRO-PS. Incarceration Code: 5-2-6-3-7." She finally answered, her voice flat and toneless, as if reciting from a textbook.

"What does that last part mean?" Sirius demanded, feeling that this information was indescribably important. "The 'FFTRO-PS'."

"Fourth Time Repeat Offender-Suspicion Sadistic." She responded promptly, seeming to have calmed down after channeling the information from James' ID bracelet. "His parents are rich so they can never hold him here long, but once he gets out, he eventually gets back in." She explained. "Actually, they're one of the biggest pureblood families around, so you could understand it came as quite a shock."

Sirius felt as if he had just plunged head first into icy water.

_This...it can't possibly be...real. Can it?_


	9. Paranoia's Effects

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius knew that voice. Would know it anywhere, anytime. Sirius whirled around in his seat and came face-to-face with…James!

"You're back!" James exclaimed, brown eyes glinting in excitement, beaming widely at him, in a very un-James-like smile, showing teeth.

Sirius offered him a half-smile, not sure what to make of this new James Potter. Like Sirius and Lily, James was dressed in the same white robes, with the same little black ankle bracelet gleaming against his tanned skin. James did not look that different; he still had wild, unkempt hair sticking straight up from his habit of running his fingers through it, he still wore his glasses, he still had the same tall, muscular build. The only difference now was that James was barefoot, and escorted by three rather large men in flowing white robes, who had James' arms drawn behind his back and handcuffed there. When the men dragged James closer, Sirius could see an odd, unhinged gleam in his eyes, and a cruel twist to his smile. The men shoved James down to his knees, removed his handcuffs, picked him up and dropped him rather unceremoniously into the seat next to Sirius.

"You're back!" James repeated enthusiastically, seizing Sirius in a bone crushing hug. "Lily, he's back!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I had noticed." She replied dryly.

"Hey…mate." Sirius greeted hesitantly, struggling against James' hold.

James released him finally, after maybe a little too long for Sirius' liking, and looked him over, while Sirius wheezed and checked to see that his ribs were still in tact. "So, where ya been, Pads?" He asked, a little too overzealously, still managing to grin while he spoke.

"You called me 'Pads'." Sirius said huskily.

James chuckled good-naturedly. "Well yeah. I always call you Pads. Or Padfoot. Or Paddy. Or Sir Paddi—"

Sirius held up a hand. "Yeah, I get it, I get it. I just…why?"

James cocked his head slightly, peering at Sirius concernedly with wild hazel eyes. "Why do I call you Padfoot?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you asking me?" James asked suddenly, his demeanor changing drastically from light and excited, to angry and suspicious. Behind him, Lily shook her head rapidly, nonverbally urging Sirius to drop this line of questioning.

"I just wanted to know."

"You already know. You call me Prongs, I call you Padfoot, we—"

"Just humor me. Tell me why we have these nicknames."

James glowered at him. "Who are you?"

"Sirius. You know that. We've already been over this."

"No, you're not. You're not Sirius." James leaned in close, eyes feral, inspecting every inch of Sirius' face.

Lily smirked. "Classic paranoia." She muttered.  
Sirius shifted uncomfortably, suddenly ill-at-ease, pulling back from James' intense scrutiny. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm me. Don't be stupid James."

James shook his head viciously. "No, you're not! You're an imposter!"

Lily sighed. "No, he's not, James."

"How do you know?" He demanded.

"I read his ID bracelet."

"Anyone can steal an ID bracelet."

"Look at him, James."

"Anyone can cast a simple Glamour."

"In _here_? Are you sure about that? There is no way anyone could cast any sort of spell or steal any _magically protected_ ID bracelet without the staff knowing."

James' eyes ticked from Lily to Sirius and back again. Several tense moments passed without anyone saying a word. Without warning, James abruptly launched himself at Sirius, barreling into him, sending them both tumbling to the floor.

"You're both in on it!" James shrieked. "Both of you! You're all against me!"

"James!" Lily screamed. "James, stop it! No one is against you!"

"Get off of me!" Sirius roared, trying to shove him back. But James seemed much stronger than Sirius remembered, and fought back valiantly.

"Traitor! Liar!" James continued to rant. "I won't let you!"

"Let me what?" Sirius snarled, blocking a badly aimed punch with his arm, and landing a punch of his own to the side of James' face.

James reeled back for an instant, but a split second later, before Sirius could gather his thoughts and get back on his feet, he was on Sirius again, straddling him, pinning him against the ground. "You're trying to steal my soul! I won't let you! I won't!"

"No one is stealing anyone's soul!" Lily attempted to interject some sort of sanity into the proceedings.

"Like I would believe his accomplice!" James snapped.

"I'm not an imposter!" Sirius shouted. "And I am _not_ trying to steal your soul!"

At the same time Lily griped, "I am no one's accomplice! I always work alone. Like a private contractor." She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back down in her seat, looking extremely put-upon.

Sirius parried another blow and retaliated, but James on the defensive. "Can you just try and not be crazy for one minute?"

"This from the soul-stealing imposter?" James scoffed, getting in a hard jab to Sirius' ribs, already aching from receiving his earlier bear hug.

"Both of you need to shut up." Lily grumbled to herself. "Since you're both evidently crazy."

The guards, busy breaking up another fight, and finally gotten wind of the scuffle between James and Sirius, and hurried over, surrounding the pair with a great storm of white robes and thick, shiny black boots. Strong arms reached down to tear them apart at the same time that boot clad feet stomped down on fingers, limbs, chests. Chaos erupted as the other asylum denizens realized that the guards were so busy dealing with the fight that they could take the opportunity to do whatever they wanted. The air was thick with shouts, curses, and spells.

The last thing Sirius remembered was an intense pain shooting up his body from the region where his kidneys resided, and the glimpse of an odd weapon like a muggle gun, but crackling with some kind of blue-purple energy. The object hissed and crackled as the guard brought it down towards Sirius' face.

The last thing Sirius heard was Lily laughing gleefully, while clapping her hands, as if witnessing a particularly good play.

That was when everything went black.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long for the update. I have a lot of ideas for this story, but there did not seem to be much interest in it. Due to recently renewed interest in seeing the story continued, I have decided to work on it more. There will be morefrequentupdates in the future. Please read and review!


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